to the Legislature of the State of JVeiv Yorh. 267 



veyor General was tendered by General Washington to the Hon. S. 

 De Witt, the present Chancellor of the Regents of the University of 

 '^Qw York. Had he accepted the office, he would have recom- 

 mended to the government to obtain a number of cheap portable 

 transit instruments, like one which he has since had made for his 

 private use and employed in astronomical observations. He would 

 then have directed standard lines to be run on the true meridian, 

 through the public lands; and that all the lines- for townships, sec- 

 tions and subdivisions, should, .after comparing compasses with those 

 standard lines, be run at right angles and parallel to them. For the 

 want of such precautionary measures, serious evils, it is apprehended, 

 will be experienced. 



If we suffer evils from the negligence or inattention of those who 

 have preceded us, it is our duty to provide that those who shall suc- 

 ceed us do not suffer similar evils through our negligence or inatten- 

 tion. The measures adopted by the University of the State of New 

 York are dictated by such principles, and are intended to remedy or 

 prevent such evils. 



It has also been suggested to the Secretary of War, to give in- 

 structions to the officers of the different military posts, to add to the 

 meteorological observations which they are enjoined to make, obser- 

 vations also by the rain gage ; it has been recommended to use the sim- 

 ple one of which a description was published in this Journal for July, 

 1832, (Vol. XXII, p. 321,) as preferable to those before employ- 

 ed. Of this fact, Mr. De Witt has become more thoroughly con- 

 vinced by examinations, lately made, of the manner in which obser- 

 vations have been conducted by the gages first furnished to the New 

 York state academies ; and they are about substituting the nine inch 

 rain-gages, as more to be relied on. 



With this view, a scale for the nine inch rain-gage has been en- 

 graved, to enable any one to make a trial of it. In order to fix the 

 scale for use, have a board prepared, of thoroughly dried wood, 

 twelve inches long, one inch and a half wide, and one eighth or one 

 third of an inch thick. Trim the print by the lateral lines. Spread 

 thin paste on the back of it, and leave it wet until it has expanded 

 to the measure between the extremes of the graduation ; then press 

 it to the board, so that there shall be exactly nine inches between the 

 zero of the scale and its highest degree — the lowest edge of the pa- 

 per to coincide with the lowest edge of the board. 



